The description above, which took place around AD 29, concludes the incident when Jesus restored the withered right hand of a synagogue-attending man on a Sabbath day. The “mindlessness” took hold of the “theologians and Pharisees” inasmuch as they saw that healing as evil.
No wonder Jesus turned to all-night “prayer to God”. Did God respond?
And when day came to be, he summoned his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James of Alphaeus, and Simon, the one called a zealot, and Judas of James, and Judas Iscariot, who came to be a traitor.
The noun “apostle” means ‘sent-out’. Jesus used the related verb earlier when he said (see Info AN) “… I was sent out for this ... that I announce good – the kingdom of God…” Only twelve of “his disciples” were chosen and “named apostles”. Some of “the disciples” were not so chosen. Given human nature, things are likely to be very messy indeed, especially since one of his chosen “apostles” “came to be a traitor”.
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And, moving down with them, he stood upon a level place, and a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. And those troubled from unclean spirits were healed. And all the crowd were seeking to touch him, since power was coming out from him and was curing all.
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Did you notice that Jesus descended “with them” and that all who had been on “the mountain” came to be on “a level place”? Whilst each person was different, all needed the “power coming out of him”. And “all the crowd were seeking to touch him.” Each person’s afflictions were reversed – for a time. Better than the NHS, was this a heaven on earth?
And he himself, lifting up his eyes onto his disciples, stated: “Blessed ones the poor, in that the realm of God is applicable to you. Blessed ones you the now hungry, in that you will be fed. Blessed ones you the now weeping, in that you will laugh. You are blessed ones when the people may hate you and may exclude you and may criticize and remove your name like an evil thing, on account of the Son of Man. Be joyful in that same day! And leap for joy! Because, look and see your great reward in heaven! Because their fathers were doing the same to the prophets.”
Immediately above is what Jesus said about “the poor ones … the now hungry ones … the now weeping ones … you … when … people may hate … exclude … criticize … and remove your name like an evil thing, on account of the Son of Man.” (Below is what Jesus then stated about those in a different group.) Can it be absolute truth that those in the first group are really “blessed”? Perhaps it can only be truly true if one thinks about the reasons he gave for that truth - “in that the realm of God is applicable to you … in that you will be satisfied … in that you will laugh … Because, look and see your great reward in heaven!” What was this supreme good which overcame such extreme loss?
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“On the contrary, alas to you the rich ones, in that you are far away from your calling-out for. Alas to you the filled full ones, in that you will hunger. Alas you the laughing ones, in that you will mourn and will weep. Alas when all the people may speak well of you (according to themselves) because they make the false prophets their fathers.”
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Have you ever heard such heartfelt concerns (“alas” x 4) about you from anyone, at any time, in any place? It would seem that those in this group, whilst highly successful, are unaware of future catastrophie. Why? Maybe the most interesting reason Jesus gave was in his first “Alas”. “Alas to you the rich, in that you are far from your calling-out.” If this world is giving you all that you could ever wish, “alas”, Jesus stated.
On that “level place”, Jesus saw only those two categories. Only the two.
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